Citation

Mitler HE, Steckler KD. Safety Sci. 1995; 20(1): 71-78.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

After listing some of the existing work on modelling pre-flashover room fires and wall fires within rooms, the effects that a ceiling has on the progress of a wall fire are discussed. Experimental results are used to show that the presence of a ceiling accelerates the progress of a wall fire. The wall-fire model SPREAD and the room-fire model FIRST are used seriatim to show that the heating effects due to trapping of hot gases under the ceiling can be calculated now. Flames impinging on the ceiling are constrained to travel horizontally, which increases the radiation feedback from the flames; this additional effect is briefly discussed. An accurate room-fire model, coupled with an upward-spread model, is a tool for assessing the potential fire hazard of various choices of room furnishings and wall linings, thus providing information on fire growth in rooms. This will facilitate the estimation of the fire hazards in buildings, and the development of strategies to cope with these hazards.